Questions about working holiday in Australia

1.
Posted byCiara25(Budding Member 3 posts) 1y
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Hi,

I am considering doing a working holiday in Australia and I just have a few questions.

1) I am considering doing a package tour when I first arrive like ultimate oz or intro oz. I wondered if anyone has done any of these or something similar and are these worth the money? I would be travelling solo also and thought it would also help me to make friends😊

2) Is it easy/ difficult to find a job in Australia for backpackers? I currently have around £4000 saved at the moment and realise I would have to use some of this when I first arrive to support myself but would hope to get a job pretty quickly as I don't want to use up much of my savings if I can help it. Is this realistic?

3) also is it possible to save much while you are working for further travel etc?

Any advice would be very appreciated thanks!

2.
Posted byjasonh2015(Full Member 156 posts) 1y
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Hi,

i didn't do a package because i wanted to "go it alone" but my friend done one and she loved it. She liked the support part of it. As for jobs, i've never had it so hard finding a job, i had a job in a warehouse, and it was $800 p/w good money but the Australian heat gets to you. I was very Lazy as with looking.

As for money, i went in Jan for 2 weeks and spent about $1000, i did do the Skywalk and Bridge Climb and i was amazing.

When i did my working holiday in 2007 i took around £4000 and that last me 5 months, i don't drink but with hostels and staying in Sydney it was enough. Then i had to ring home to borrow £200 to re-arrange my flights.

I left it very late to get a Job so i would suggest sight seeing for a month then look for a job, if i were to do it now, i would get my farm work out the way to get the 2nd visa.

The first thing is to get a bank account when you land, they can set it up and you can pay your money in on the day. And they have this great thing called "cashless money" and if you have a smartphone you can use their app until your card arrives.

I'm going back at the end of the year for 3 wks or a few months, need to check how much money i have at the time

hope this helps. i know a lot, so any other questions, let me know

[ Edit: Edited on 05-May-2016, at 05:38 by jasonh2015 ]

3.
Posted byCiara25(Budding Member 3 posts) 1y
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Hi,

Thanks so much for your response/ advice 😄. Just wondering when you worked in a warehouse was it farm work you were doing? Also How did you hear about the job? Did you see the vacancy online? Also do you know what package your friend did?

Also was the Sydney bridge climb expensive? I really want to do it but I'm not the best at heights haha!

Thanks 😄

4.
Posted byfreyabennett(Budding Member 4 posts) 1y
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My friend who went to Australia worked at farm, a job was quite easy to find, more difficult( or exhausting) to perform. There are some job openings in that area, I believe.

[ Edit: Edited on 06-May-2016, at 02:45 by freyabennett ]

5.
Posted byunabuna88(Budding Member 36 posts) 1y
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Hello!

I did a years working holiday in oz between 2012 and 2013 and it was amazing, best time of my life! Here is what advice I can offer job wise.I started in Perth and worked in a cafe, the wages were really good, but that is because the cost of living is so high! I was lucky in that I got this job through family because I was originally looking to work in retail but didn't get any call backs from CVs I had put out. I found that they weren't really wanting to hire backpackers in retail jobs because they know that they will leave again after a few weeks/months, but waitressing jobs are easy enough to come by. You haven't said they type of work you're looking for but I loved waitressing as a backpacker, you meet tons of people and its a bit more fun than sitting in an office. However if you are looking for office work that really shouldn't be a problem. Hit up the temping agencies when you arrive. I had friends that did office temp work in Perth and Melbourne and the pay was amazing (39 dollars an hour in Perth) and they got work pretty much straight away. You do need previous office experience for these agencies tho or they wont take you on.

After Perth I traveled for a while and then went to Melbourne. I ran into some trouble here job wise I have to say. There is just so many backpackers that I think I only got one trial in a cafe after sending out a million CVs. I ended up running out of money and had to call home. My biggest mistake I think was staying in Melbourne hoping I would get a job. I should have headed somewhere else when I realized that getting a job would be tough. In the end through other backpackers in the hostel I lived in I ended up getting a call center job. The actual job was shitty, calling businesses and trying to make sales but the money was good (800 a week after tax plus more if you actually made sales, which I never did!) and I was working with other backpackers so we had a laugh.

After Melbourne I really wanted to spend some time in the country so I found an ad on gumtree looking for barstaff for a pub in the middle of nowhere. This was something I had really wanted to do as I knew I would save a lot of money and get to meet some good ol Aussies. It was an awesome experience and something I would recommend doing if you would be into that. I worked for 6 weeks and had free accommodation and meals and met some of the coolest people, great experience!

I should mention at this point that I had tried to get farm work as I really wanted a second year visa. BEWARE! Everyone is looking for farm work and I got completely ripped off and promised farmwork and basically was stuck paying 200 dollars a weeks in the middle of nowhere getting no work staying in what was basically like a prison, so be careful if you go the farmwork route!

Anyways hope something there is helpful! Best of luck and enjoy the year it goes by way too quick!

6.
Posted byCiara25(Budding Member 3 posts) 1y
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Hi, Thanks for the responses! 😊. Well I have experience with retail and call centre work. But I would rather work in hospitality e.g bar work or waitressing. But I have no experience and read that employers don't tend to employ you if you have no experience in that field as they don't want to spend money to train you 😞. Did you have experience before you went for a job in hospitality? Do you think it's unlikely I would get hired for hospitality jobs because of lack of experience?

7.
Posted byjasonh2015(Full Member 156 posts) 1y
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hi,

i can't remember the package she did, but it was a two week one with STA travel i think. They arranged all her bank account and TFN and hostel for around £650. I think you can do it all at half the cost. The warehouse job as like a builders warehouse, i wish it was farm work lol i got it from a friend, he was leaving and his employer needed someone. It wasn't very good, but the pay was. Wish i stuck it out a bit longer now.

But going back to a few months in Dec Australia is my happy place

8.
Posted byunabuna88(Budding Member 36 posts) 1y
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Experience would help but I wouldn't say that you wont be hired without it. I worked in restaurants that hired backpackers without experience an d were happy to train them. One thing that would really help is if you could maybe do a barista course before you leave. If you can make good coffee that is a huge advantage in oz!

9.
Posted byjasonh2015(Full Member 156 posts) 1y
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Hi,

You could get a bar job or ask a local for some training for free before you leave. We all want to be paid, but in the long run the experience would be useful.

In Sydney at least you'll need an RSA (responsible services of alcohol certificate) these are about $110AUD you won't be able to get a bar job without it. A friend of mine did it, and they gave him the answers, and he completed it in half a day.... not the best option

They are so strict in NSW about drunk people, me and a friend had these to badly dressed men following us in Scruffy Murphy's in Sydney and they cornered us, and they were NSW police. I explained we didn't want any trouble and they don't look like cops, and they could tell we were not drunk.

The bars get fined heavily for servicing drunks and even just letting them in. last time i checked it was around $2000 AUD per offence. I would think the same would be the case for not having the RSA.